Social media in stakeholder engagement, crisis management and job hunting

In my career as a trainer since 2004, I have worked with supervisors and executives from fortune 500 companies, non profit organizations and SMEs in Asia, Africa and North America. I have also worked extensively with students.

I am fascinated by the process of designing and delivering compelling training programs on issues relating to social media, communication and resiliency.

My social media programs have focused mainly on Internet (online) safety and cyber bullying for students and the use of social media in stakeholder engagement by SMEs and non profit organizations.

With respect to communication, I have delivered programs on how leaders use stories to lead and how organizations use storytelling in selling and sustaining their brands.

My resiliency programs have helped at-risk youth to face adversity with audacity and to be involved with youth development and personal empowerment programs.

I believe my experience from Asia, Africa, and America gives me a broad and unique understanding of how to engage, educate and communicate and with audiences of diverse backgrounds.

Armed with a wealth of experience from presenting award-winning speeches and speaking frequently at professional conferences on 3 continents, I believe I have the skills required to ignite and orchestrate change through training.

Resilient Leadership  Money Mastery  Transitions

With over 25 years of experience working with people navigating the complexities of transition, Michelle empowers people to use life’s changes and challenges, as invaluable opportunities to strengthen their innate resilience, so they can become leaders in their own lives, their businesses, and workplaces.

Her commitment to personal transformation began when she was 13 years old. She became very curious why some friends and family members, when faced with adversity, whether it be in a relationship, at work, or with a health or financial challenge, reacted with resentment and anger, and crystallized in that experience, while others, responded with optimism, reached out for support, and learned meaningful lessons that propelled them forward in life.

Many years later, she became a Vocational Rehabilitation professional, and for 18 years, coached people who were transitioning from a medically-focused lifestyle, to mainstream life and work. Michelle treated this as a laboratory, within which her clients and she learned together about the diverse ways that people navigate change. She also served as board member to the Workforce Diversity Network, where in partnership with the Executive Director, she helped to create a world-class organization committed to the benefits of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Michelle has been interviewed and quoted extensively on topics relative to diversity in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, and Managing Diversity magazine, and written numerous articles on strengthening resilience, effectively navigating change, and transforming one’s relationship to money and prosperity.

In 2008, when Michelle discovered the resilience work of the late Dr. Al Siebert, in his book The Resiliency Advantage, she found answers to the questions she had been soul-searching to answer since adolescence, regarding why some people survive, and in some cases thrive through challenge and change, and others don’t. Her connection to Al Siebert, led to certification as a Resiliency Facilitator.

Invitations to teach Resilient Leadership seminars to a cross-section of top level government leaders as adjunct faculty, at retreat sites throughout the US, such as the Eastern Management Development Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, the Western Management Development Center in Denver, Colorado, and the and the Federal Executive Institute, in Charlottesville, Virginia, along with individual organizations such as the FDA and the Department of the Interior, and several others, soon followed. Michelle has also facilitated Resilient Leadership work for several not-for-profit organizations, community colleges and large corporations. She now certifies others in the work of Al Siebert for the international Al Siebert Resiliency Center.

Michelle’s resilience coaching and training has evolved to include current scientific research and findings on the neuroscience of resilience. She continues to experience great satisfaction helping leaders strengthen their personal resilience and learn practices to cultivate resilient teams. She also has always been passionate about doing transformational coaching with individuals, and runs a thriving one-on-one, and small-group coaching practice.

The coaching and training that Michelle provides through her company, Trust Change, is a blend of the best of her expertise on strengthening resilience, transforming life’s greatest challenges into life’s greatest treasures and cultivating an empowered relationship to prosperity.

Michelle comes equipped with a huge transformational toolbox, to help you take tangible, life-changing steps to magnetize success in your business/career, relationships and financial future. Skillful coaching is the most effective tool she knows of to unlock the prison of past conditioning and catapult one into the realm of new possibilities. She knows, because she lives everything she offers.

Participant feedback…

"Thanks for a fantastic presentation. You’ve increased my resilience quotient on a scale of 1-10 up to NINE!" ~ Steve Jarose, Executive Director, National Coalition Building Institute, Rochester New York

"Really appreciate the facilitator’s expertise, sensitive approach to sharing information and responding to participants! Thank you for the effort on this!" ~ US Federal Government Leader

"Great facilitator in the design of the program, presenting material and eliciting proactive conversation among strangers, because you created a safe environment, wow!!" ~ US Federal Government Leader

"When Michelle questioned my limiting behaviors, I discovered learning blocks and worked past them. Michelle’s coaching techniques not only open my world but enable me to be a better leader. Our conversations forced me to look past the black and white of situations and as a result I see the world in a more open way. I have found value in things I did not before, I work more effectively with others and I’m able to lead in a more effective way."~ Patricia Maier, Project Consultant, Office of National Health Care Reform, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan

Glen Fahs is the former Director of Training and Organization Development at Cascade Employers Association in Salem, Oregon, an Association providing human resource expertise and developing employees for over 430 employers in Oregon and Washington, including a number of governmental agencies. He has been at Cascade for 20 years, following eight years in government and 17 years in higher continuing education administration.

He serves the Resiliency Center as Lead Facilitator in Portland, where he trains, mentors and certifies resiliency trainers who use the material of Dr. Al Siebert. Glen and Al partnered on many Surviving and Thriving on Change workshops, conferences and articles, including a series preparing employees for layoffs when Glen was in charge of training for the State of Oregon. He has been interviewed for several national publications.

Glen earned his BA in Psychology-Speech Communication from San Francisco State University and his PhD in Adult Education and Organization Development from the University of Michigan. His research has focused on reducing feelings of powerlessness, on transition processes and on creative problem solving. He is a third generation San Franciscan, living with his family in Portland since 1979.

Glen has over 35 years of management, coaching, team building and training experience. He has developed teams for many organizations, coached at all levels – including CEOs, and taught for 12 colleges and universities in the areas of communication, management, and education.

He has worked both internally and as a consultant to corporations, colleges, governments and nonprofits in the areas of leadership, strategic planning, and change management. Glen’s coaching and training often focus making organizations successful and great places to work.

Glen’s board experience includes:

Al Siebert Resiliency Center

American Society for Training and Development (now Association for Talent Development) — Western States Regional Officer and state chapter President

Oregon Mediation Association — Education Director

Oregon Organization Development Network

United Way Mid-Willamette Valley

Willamette West Habitat for Humanity — 12 years

Glen puts his resiliency skills to the test often and appreciates those who bounce back from adversity.